Is Your Home’s Sliding Door Acting Up? How a Handyman Can Remedy the Problem

Category: Tips for Your Home

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Sliding door problems can happen suddenly or develop slowly over a long period: one of those continuing annoyances you always mean to take care of but never have the time. Handyman services can get things back on the right track, literally. The track and roller system incorporated in most units is a major culprit in sliding door problems. However trouble can also arise in the latch/lock mechanism as well as the sliding screen component.

Sliding glass doors are extremely heavy, though you wouldn’t know it until you accidentally dislodge it from its track while trying to repair it yourself. That’s a really bad way to find out. Repairing sliding door problems is a job for a professional handyman. Here’s the kind of work you can expect from a handyman to get your door back to smooth operation.

Tracks are a magnet for mud, leaves, pet hair and other debris. An accumulation of this matter gradually slows the door, making it hard to open with one hand. It can also cause it to jam entirely. After removing the door and putting it on padded sawhorses, the technician will remove each roller from its recess in the bottom of the door, identify any broken or bent rollers for replacement and clean and lubricate the rest.

Using a vacuum, the service person will remove dirt and debris from the bottom and head tracks. Then he or she will clean the tracks with denatured alcohol. Spray silicone is sufficient lubricant for the head track; the bottom load-bearing track is usually coated with paraffin wax.

Worn or torn weatherstripping where the two door panels overlap will be removed. New strips are normally glued in place and secured with small screws.

After the door is remounted in the track, proper latch and lock operation are verified.

The screen door will be tested for smooth action. Where it binds, the plastic lower and upper screen track are lubricated. If the track is cracked, warped or otherwise damaged, it can be removed and a replacement track glued into place.